So, It seems that there are quite a few issues with the transmission. Ford does not want to help out. I am done with Ford too. Ive had Fords my whole life. Dad was a ford guy. 500 Galaxy- 2003 Explorer....I'm Done. I will Buy A Jeep, Chevy or even a F!@#$#@! Toyota, at least they are fixing their problem. F*#@! Ford !!!!!!!

Update from Feb 9, 2010: So Ive taken it to a transmission shop, 2nd and OD "band broken" $2500.00 to fix. I have also E-mailed Ford Customer Service. I'm waiting for a response from them to see if they can help. I will update you.

Update from Feb 9, 2010: So, Ford E-mailed me back and stated that there is no warranty on the truck. No kidding? I knew that. So I have E-mailed them again. I will be a pain in thier butt.

Update from Feb 10, 2010: They E-mailed me back, they "of coarse' needed all of my info again and are asking me what it is I would like help with? Hmmm. I mailed them back with all info again and told them, I want them to overhall the tranny with a 3year 36,000 mile warrany. We will see how they handle this.

Update from Feb 13, 2010: I see how this is going to end, I will have to fix this myself. I will never buy another Ford. The have E-mailed me telling me that I can take it to a Ford dealer to get it looked at, I will have to pay a diagnostic fee, and that it will not be covered under warranty. I had a diagnostic done already "at no charge" from a Transmission shop here in town. I told them I want it fixed. In the grand scene of things is Ford fixing my truck going to help them or hurt them? I can only believe that it would help. But like most car sales people, they can not think outside the box.

W O W !!!! i can't belive the probs. everyone is having with these trucks..... i felt alone..same old story .. starting blinking,, took in,, code read solenoid pack valve b bad,, replaced for $400.00 parts and $300.00 labor and fluid... then told needed new or rebuilt transmission.... NO REFUND ON SOLENOID>>>>>ouch...My wife has a 2000 ford explorer and the only thing we have fixed was a front bearing that i did myself for under $50.00 with new part. I thought ok upgrade to newer explorer (O3) WRONG!!!! 3 weeks of owner and she is driving her 2000 again and says GET RID OF THE 03. Now she is nevfer gonna let go of the 2000.

what a piece of @#$% so many complaints about this trans and ford wont do #@%*ing thing about it. thanks ford, still paying on the damn thing and need a tranny at $3600 are f@@@ing kidding me. dealer says needs new tranny @ $3600,4 new wheel bearings @ $1700,and a new power steering pump @ $500. as far as im concerned all fords are @#%&. im a staunch union supporter but this making me want to buy foreign car. ford knows its crap. also never pulled or towed a damn thing with the truck cant imagine if i had. dam thing probably would have exploded on the road. hey ford heres a new name for it FORD EXPLODER

Wow! Looks like I'm not the only one with transmissions problems! I can't believe all these problems everyone is having! Here's my story....My dad worked at a local plant that made some Ford electrical parts. All my family drives is Fords because we get a pretty good discount. Bought a 2003 Explorer new & at 73,500 miles the O/D light began flashing one day as well as the service engine soon light. I noticed the truck was shifting differently, making loud noises and it seemed like the tranny was slipping. Took it to my buddy at the local Ford dealer & he knew right away that I had a major problem. He told me he replaced or repaired about 30 transmissions in the 2002-2004 Explorers in the past few years with some having as little as 45,000 miles. I was stunned! Recently paid this thing off & was not about to sink $3500 for a new transmission or $2200 for a rebuilt one! He advised me to trade it in fast while it's still slightly driveable & before it's totally worthless...I listened...Just traded it in yesterday for a 2010 Nissan Xterra. The Nisaan dealer gave me $3500 for the Exploder & is probably going to send it right to auction. I feel bad for whoever gets it next. I'm officially done with Fords!

I purchased in 2005 a used 2003 Ford Explorer and purchased the extra Extended Warranty. I thought that the extended warranty was going to cover an extra 75,000 miles but that was found out not to be true. Anyway, the O/D light kept flashing, the transmission light came on, and cannot shift past 2nd gear. I took it to a Ford Dealership and they want to charge $3300 to repair. I about passed out, I was praying that it was something minor like electrical wiring that was all tangled up but that was not the case.

I know cars have problems but not the transmission already. I know that I will have to have this repaired, but it is just so aggrivating because maybe this should have happened after the piece of $$$$ was paid off, at least that's when we think something should go wrong!

I've owned Fords for 30 years, 5 total...3 bad transmissions. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson. This time the OD lite starts flashing while we are on vacation in Craig, Colorado, pulling a travel trailer. 1st Ford dealer said "not a real problem, OK to drive home (Oregon) maybe a solenoid ? Reset the computer but the light came back on w/in 10 miles. Nice guy and didn't charge me. 100 miles later, Steamboat Springs, light coming on pretty much all the time, the dealer there did a full diagnostic, checked fluids, etc. Again, told me nothing apparently wrong, maybe a sensor. 1500 miles later I have it checked by my local dealer. Guess what? $3500 for a new transmission. Don't they know what they're doing? I'm done with Fords and told them so. I bought a Silverado. Good thing Ford didn't get any money for the "stimulus" plan (or did they) If they don't figure out a better transmission they will go the way of Packard.

I have a 2003 Ford Explorer and literally ONE day after they say my warranty expired, the transmission started not shifting properly and the O/D light started flashing. I took it to the dealer but unfortunately my warranty expired over a holiday weekend so I did not get the car in until a few days later. At that point, the service dept charged me $100 to look at the car AFTER they already told me I needed a new transmission... but they wanted to have a specialist look at it. It was obvious that this was not a new problem for them and that they had seen it before. I didn't even finish telling them the problem when they guy told me it would cost well over $3000 to fix. I only had 49000 miles on my truck. I was told by the sales people at the dealer, as well as former and current ford employees, that I should call the customer relations line and they will help me get the car fixed for less than full cost. When I called, they offered to split the cost 50/50 with me saying I would still have to pay almost $2000! I don' t have the money to pay that and I said Ford should cover more since I can get it fixed at a trans place for that price. They wouldn't budge and I've been fighting with them for weeks now. I have also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I will NOT buy another Ford car again. I can not believe they do not stand by their product better than this. I should not need a new transmission with only 49,000 miles on it. And obviously it is a repeated problem with this model of car and Ford knows about it.... they should do a recall and replace all of our transmissions at their cost!!!! I am thoroughly disappointed in Ford.

I spent $38,000 on my truck and payed it off May 2008. literally 2 days later at 48,000 miles the o/d light and transmission light came on. I took it to several places and they all said the 2nd and 5th gears was burned out. Since I didn't have an extended warranty what was I to do, I'm a mother with 4 kids and no job for the time being, and I need my truck but I don't have the money. I even filed against the company with the attorney general but Ford refused to cooperate. Now it's been over a year and I'm still driving with me shifting the gears myself and I haven't enjoyed the fact that I payed off my truck a year ago yet. It's sad because Ford got alot of money out of me but they can't help a customer for as little as $2500. All this happened after I spent money on getting new wheel bearings at 45000 miles, which is telling me that I got nothing but a lemon, but you have to have a warranty to claim it as a lemon. So now I feel that I'm stuck and I get no enjoyment every time I drive because when the gears stick it only reminds me of how much a fool I was to get a Ford truck. The good thing about this is that their are programs out there that will help with repairs as long as you fall into the low income guidelines, but they only give you a certain amount and I know I have to dig in my pocket anyway. All I know is that Ford will never get my business from me because they show no compassion for their customers that came from their fault.

I unfortunately own a 2003 Ford Explorer with only 72,500 miles on it, that I just had the pleasure to replace the transmission in ! If I knew that this was a common problem with explorers, you bet I would have never bought one. I agree with other explorer owners that Ford needs to take action for their faulty transmissions and pay for this expense. This was a very costly repair, total was $2200.00, and you bet I will be the thorn in Fords side until I am compensated for this expense. I did get some help from the service department at the Ford Dealership I went to, which was better than nothing. Good luck Ford Explorer owners, you'll need it !

The O/D light began flashing one day for no reason as well as the service engine light. I noticed the truck was shifting different and overdrive was not working. Took it to the local Ford dealer which was a mistake. They diagnosed the problem to solenoids or something (?) in the transmission and said the only fix was a rebuilt transmission (no kidding?). They charged me $350 to diagnose and offered to replace it for $4000 with a rebuilt transmission. When I asked them if this was a common problem with these trucks they said no! Talked with a couple of local transmission shops and they said this is a very common problem with Ford Explorers and the best fix is a new or rebuilt tranny. NOt wanting to spend thousands of dollars on the truck, I found a used tranny at a local wrecker for $600 with 1 year warranty and had it installed. Going to trade off or sell before the year is up and will never buy another Ford product again.

I have a 2003 Ford Explorer and one day the o/d light was flashing. Like an idiot I bring it to a Ford dealer to have them check it out and they try to charge me $332 to tell me that I need a new transmission. I refuse to pay and end up forking over $120. I bring it to a transmission place. They take it apart and tell me that I will have to pay $3,900 to get a new transmission.

A) The car is only worth $2,500 and B) I still owe $3,600 on the note.

What am I supposed to do? Are there other transmission shops out there that will fix a junk transmission for $1,500-$2,500?

No major problems with my Explorer until now. The ride is noticeably rougher and the O/D off light was on and the check engine light turned on, so I took it into an independent garage to get the codes pulled and hoped for the best. I was told that there were several problems that needed attention, including a new transmission solenoid. Associated problems included the left rear wheel bearing, left front wheel bearing, rear brakes and rotors, a broken pinon drive seal. All together $1,800 worth of repairs.

I need the vehicle and I am getting everything fixed, but I am not a happy camper with Ford. These seem like a lot of problems to have to take care of.

Initially, the diagnostic codes indicated a transmission solenoid problem, but after replacing it, the check engine light persisted and the problem was not fixed. The next option was a rebuilt or remanufactured transmission, I opted for the less expensive rebuilt transmission and the independent dealer that had my vehicle backed out the charges for the solenoid and installed the rebuilt transmission. They had the vehicle for three days and it runs fine now and the rebuilt tranny has a 12 month/12,000 warranty, which I hope I don't have to use.

It was suggested that I contact Ford customer service regarding a goodwill credit, but that call proved fruitless. The final repair tab for the transmission service alone was $2009.45.

This is the last Ford vehicle that I will purchase...